Strikeforce Challengers 15 (4/1/2011)

April Fools! I'm watching this show because, uhhh, yeah. I was gonna watch it for the Big Show Review and decided instead that it deserved its own entry instead of going back 2-3 years from now and watching it again. This was at the Stockton Arena in, you guessed it, Stockton CA. Headlining the show is ex prospect Rodrigo Damm and Justin Wilcox.

1) Damion Douglas vs. Wayne Phillips: David "Tarzan" Douglas' brother against some guy who is apparently a stablemate of Wilcox.

FIGHT: Douglas Split Decision. I'm not doing a serious breakdown here because this was low level stuff. Douglas was blown up 3 minutes in and still got a W on the cards. I can't say it was entirely undeserved. He won the first 4 minutes of round 1- where the problem was there was that he lost the 5th minute by nearly getting choked out in an RNC as the bell rings. He lost the second in my book (Phillips controlled standing and on the mat) and won the third by outlanding a seemingly catatonic Phillips. But so what? Hands were at his waste and he was flat on with Phillips early. Phillips has no takedowns and Douglas' singles and doubles were barely present. Neither guy could effectively control position on the mat. This was Douglas' first fight in 30 months and it looked it. (0)

2) James Terry vs. Josh Thornburg: 165lb catchweight.

FIGHT: Terry TKO Rnd 1. Whole round is about Terry setting up the right hand. He keeps throwing it and throwing it and Thornburg really isn't doing a good job at all in mitigating it or neutralizing the striking attack. Thornburg eventually eats a low kick and he drops the hand. That happens, Terry throws the right hand, and its all over instantly. (1)

3) Lorenz Larkin vs. Scott Lighty: Once upon a time, Lighty was in K1. He was actually a lot better than the midget heavyweight the UFC has, but hell if you'll get anyone to admit that. Larkin is an undefeated prospect who replaced Satoshi Ishii. Ishii apparently lost his visa or forgot to apply or something. He's a moron. Larkin is not so dumb.

FIGHT: Larkin TKO Rnd 2. Good performance from Larkin who comes in late against a guy brought in to be a can. What can you take from that? Good question I suppose. Larkin demolished Lighty standing, where he should have had the clear advantage. That's a positive. Larkin often followed around Lighty in the ring and threw hooks and kicks, even a flying side kick. Speed wise, it wasn't competitive. Larkin was a much better athlete and fought very well. I'd like to see him fight a bunch more, of course. One thing that I thought was funny was that Larkin would start to dance and move around on the balls of his feet, and do nothing then. And eventually he'd stop and go back to being flatfooted and stalk his man. (1)

4) David Douglas vs. Caros Fodor: Tarzan is one of the best bad fighters ever. Who is Fodor? Uhhhh, no idea.

FIGHT: Fodor TKO Rnd 3. Douglas and Fodor re-enact the opening round of Damion Douglas' fight earlier in the night as Douglas forces it down, takes Fodor's back, Fodor gets out, and ends up controlling the fight standing and then on the mat over the last 2 minutes. From that point though, unlike Damion Douglas, David never starts to stick and move. Never lands the harder shots. Fodor is at least decent standing and pretty OK on the mat, and so he ends up getting takedowns and landing hard shots in the clinch and on the occasions that they are at range. Douglas is blown up early (like his brother) and ends up against the cage getting hit with knees and punches as the ref calls it off in the early part of the third. (1)

5) Rodrigo Damm vs. Justin Wilcox: This is a good fight. Wilcox was a teammate of Koscheck in college I'm told by the announcers. Damm is a solid grappler, but not in the same league as Wilcox's last win (Vitor Riberio). Wilcox is still a small lightweight...kinda like a second tier Sean Sherk.

FIGHT: Wilcox TKO Rnd 1. Wilcox basically follows around Damm, who is running for him, eventually catching him with a leaping right hand that drops Damm and cuts him badly. The rest of the round is GNP and Damm can't get off his stool in th first. Wilcox is a strong guy, no doubt about it, but he's not a big guy like I said. I still think he's too small to make big noise in MMA at lightweight. Featherweight might be a different deal, but he may not want to cut. Besides, there's nothing in Strikeforce to do at 145. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Lighty/Larkin

KO OF THE NIGHT: Thornburg/Terry

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. Not the worst show, not the best. Some prospects that are sorta interesting but who are super embryonic and may end up being nothing.

D&R Rating: 20% (5/25)

ShoMMA/Strikeforce Challengers 2 (6/19/2009)

I've done a couple of these events in the past, and this is a nice timely one to do this week. From Kent, WA we have the second edition of this series, headlined with Cyborg Santos vs. Joey Villasenor.

1) Cory Devela vs. Luke Rockhold: Rockhold has been dinged up a little and that's prevented him from getting the next big step he's earned by beating Jesse Taylor, Paul Bradley, and, uhh. Not to spoil anything here.

FIGHT: Rockhold Submission Rnd 1. Rockhold drops Devela coming in with a right hand and then adds on some more punches having taken the back, then gets a rear naked choke sunk in all of 30 seconds. (2)

2) Sarah Kaufman vs. Shayna Baszler: Baszler comes out wearing a Flying V. That's the most interesting thing about them personally. This is one of the first women's bouts with 5 minute rounds.

FIGHT: Kaufman Unanimous Decision (3)

Baszler: Baszler gets the fight down early and looks like she's gonna dominate with superior grappling...but doesn't. She goes for a funny choke using the knee to close off half of the carotid that ends up getting her swept, and from that point on she never looks totally in control of the fight. As the fight goes back to the feet, it rarely ever becomes a battle of grappling, and that means Baszler is at a huge disadvantage. She eats low kicks and punches en route to losing.

Kaufman: She clearly wins the second and third, and thusly the fight, but man, I don't like her punches. Her takedown defense is actually pretty iffy too, as Baszler gets deep with a double she doesn't set up from way outside. Good thing women's MMA is pretty weak.

3) Conor Heun vs. Jorge Gurgel: Another Gurgel fight to watch. I should have a tag for him.

FIGHT: Gurgel Unanimous Decision. This is classic Gurgel as slugger contest. (1)

Gurgel: Yet again for the billionth time, Gurgel says "Hey this guy can grapple! That's an excuse to punch and kick!" And yeah, they trade and people get shook up and Gurgel is cut in multiple places and whatever, but on a personal level, I don't care to see this any more. Its just frustrating. More than that, its just dull. The guy is a BJJ black belt who never uses his skills, which makes you really wonder whether or not his skills are half as good as they are believed to be. Gurgel still makes a lot of really basic errors like pulling straight back.

Heun: Heun is young, rangier, bigger, and yet he's inexperienced and follows Gurgel around the ring. Sure, he busts up Gurgel, but he's tagged so much otherwise that he loses 30-27 on two cards. He probably should have looked for a takedown or something. In a fight where Gurgel was at a number of disadvantages, Heun did nothing to take advantage.

4) Nick Thompson vs. Tim Kennedy: Kennedy's first big comeback fight for Strikeforce from military service. Thompson meets him having moved up to 185, and honestly, he looks bigger than Kennedy.

FIGHT: Kennedy TKO Rnd 2. This is technically a submission by strikes, but one of these days people will regroup those. Watch.

Kennedy controls this fight from the get go. He has a really fast shot that Thompson is unprepared for and he's so active on the mat that once he gets his takedowns, Thompson doesn't get up. He has the back for what seems like forever in the first and in the second is consistently transitioning between positions. Unlike someone like Ben Askren, who does a lot of positional changes, Kennedy is much more effective striking during these changes. He pops Thompson pretty fiercely in the second and that forces The Goat to turn over and tap. Tim is all basics and that's why he's successful. (3)

5) Joey Villasenor vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos: Who doesn't love a fight between scrappy middleweights? Santos' prefight interview makes him look hood as fuck.

FIGHT: Villasenor Split Decision. Close fight. Could have gone either way.

Villasenor: Joey seemed to be last to tire out and it was only by a minute or so, but in the 8 minutes that he was really doing good work, I think it was clearly better than Santos'. He threw some effective leg kicks, some decent straight punches, forced Santos to come to him wildly and made him pay. But then he got tired, Santos got a takedown, and started putting together strikes of his own. Villasenor didn't win the third but it didn't matter in the end.

Santos: You can see the gameplan slowly fade away as Cyborg once more retreats into slugger mode. By the middle of the second round, he has given up on straightening his punches and they're looping and wild. He is beaten to the punch by Villasenor early on while Villasenor has snap on his straighter stuff, but once he gets wild, Cyborg can bring heat. With the Diaz fight coming up in a couple nights, it'll be very very interesting to see how precisely Diaz reacts to Cyborg's pressure and to see if Cyborg can fight a full 15, much less 25 (should it get that far) minutes. I tend to think he's gonna gas but give Nick a rough opening round. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Santos/Villasenor

KO OF THE NIGHT: Kennedy/Thompson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Rockhold/Devela

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7 out of 10. The fights were OK, and most people would probably like the Heun/Gurgel fight more than I. I've watched a few of these events recently that I haven't reviewed (at some point I'll revisit them when some more time has been put between them and now) and honestly, this is probably the best ShoMMA show I've seen. Not that it means much because so many of them are achingly mediocre, but still.

D&R Rating: 48% (12/25)

ShoMMA/Strikeforce Challengers 5: 11/20/2009

Strikeforce Challengers this time comes from Kansas City, Kansas, where a number of events have been held. The main event was a riff on UFC 105; Couture/Vera, except with the wives. Well, they were the wives until Kim's divorce a couple weeks before this event.

1) CHAD VANCE vs. KEVIN CASEY: Guys! Casey believes in the power of BJJ. We believe in you too, Kevin.

Clinch to start with and Casey pushes Vance to the cage. Vance is landing some stuff in the clinch...oh, hiptoss attempt goes badly and Casey is taking the back. RNC, good night folks. (0)

2) RAFAEL FEIJAO CAVALCANTE vs. AARON ROSA: Cavalcante was a real prospect up until he got throttled by an old, ornery kickboxer. Rosa is now a solid midpack gatekeeper.

Clinch to start the first and Feijao backs up Rosa to the fence, then takes him down off the trip. Rosa bounces up while eating some shots, and its hugging time. Crowd and announcers know this is lousy. The ref separates this after 4 minutes and we're back to a clinch 5 seconds later. Ugh. More of this in the second round, but when they do separate (which does happen), Feijao is landing solid blows; in particular, a nice combo of overhand right/knee/takedown. No action on the mat, and its back to standup. Rosa is caught with a punch and drops, leading to some GNP and the fight's end. Only one angle is shown for the finish in replays and it looks a lot to me like there was a headbutt and not a punch there that dropped Rosa. (2)

3) BOBBY VOELKER vs. ERIK APPLE: Apple is fighting again! Yay! Somehow I've missed reviewing a Voelker fight, though I saw him fight Amir Rahnavarni in M-1 a long time ago. I just didn't review it, you see. At least, yet.

Apple throws the overhand right to start and drops Voelker, and he's all over him. Voelker is able to get up, hold the clinch, and slow the fight down; this allows him recovery time. Apple tries to prevent a rally by shoving off and then throwing down again, but they trade and Voelker does surprisingly well. Apple starts looking for takedowns more often than not and there's a pattern that develops of takedown attempts, defense by Voelker, exchanges, and separation. Apple does get a takedown, but Voelker walk walks up and regains the clinch, then hits a trip takedown of his own, landing some clean blows while trying to pass at the end of the round. Good action round there.

In the second, Voelker rocks Apple early and takes him down into half guard. Apple does force his way to his feet but is clearly tired and very wild. Voelker drops him with punches and Apple is just flat out done. The ref is forced to stop it as Voelker throws leather on the mat. Big win for the gatekeeper, and a solid fight. (1)

4) KIM COUTURE vs. KERRY VERA: If Vera is at all good, she destroys Couture.

Couture is destroyed with a flurry of punches less than two minutes in. Not worth rating. Freakshow bout.

5) RUDY BEARS vs. TYRON WOODLEY: Bears cannot be all bad; he did beat Brendan Seguin once. Woodley though is an elite prospect that Strikeforce picked up before the UFC was ready to commit to him. And its for the best, really; these are the fights he needs, and he can't get them in the UFC.

Bears closes the distance with his striking, and Woodley does the smart thing and clinches. He slams the hell out of Bears, moves to the full mount, but doesn't look steady. Bears bucks him off (though nearly ends up in a triangle doing so), and gets standing again. He eats a knee in the clinch, is taken down again, and Woodley locks in a head and arm triangle before putting Bears to sleep. Impressive by Woodley, who is still like 7-8 fights away from a real challenge at 170. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Apple/Voelker

KO OF THE NIGHT: Vera/Couture

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Bears/Woodley

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. Woodley looks good and Apple/Voelker was fun, but the rest felt meaningless.

D&R Rating: 25% (5/20)

ShoMMA/Strikeforce Challengers 4: 11/6/2009

Another one of the developmental Strikeforce events, also like many others from Frenso, CA.

1) ZOILA FRAUSTO vs. ELISHA HELSPER: Women fighting! Hooray! I suppose.

Frausto throws kicks in the first and lands, Helsper throws punches that do not. Frausto 10-9 round 1. Round 2: Helsper doesn't close the distance at all even though its her only way to win. Does eventually pursue a takedown when she's kicked in the head and cut, but gets tossed to the mat by Frausto. Round 3 sees Helsper come out desperate and get a takedown, but the effort is nullified by a poor referee standup and Frausto gets her to the mat and lands superior shots throughout, winning a wide unanimous decision. I don't rate women's fights.

2) MERRIT WARREN vs. THOMAS DIAGNE: Diagne is here because he's a San Shou guy from France and trains with, WHO ELSE, Cung Le.

Diagne hits a big slam early, but does not much. Warren moves into full guard, gets Diagne trying to move around without any idea of what he'd doing, and hooks up the inverted heel hook. Oh, Cung Le. (0)

3) JESSE TAYLOR vs. LUKE ROCKHOLD: Taylor is potentially the dumbest man to ever be on TV. Rockhold has been a Strikeforce favorite for who knows how long.

Taylor shoots in, as you would expect with him being a one note wrestler, but Rockhold defends the takedown and keeps it standing for a little while. Taylor's strength is just too much though and he gets Rockhold to his back. Rockhold has a really active guard; who doesn't like that? Taylor does escape any submission attempts being thrown and there's a scramble. Taylor actually goes for the submission guy's back at one point, only to be reversed as Rockhold goes out the back and sinks in a choke of his own. Really a big win for Rockhold. (2)

4) BRANDON CASH vs. SHANE DEL ROSARIO: Cash is a nobody and Del Rosario is a well regarded prospect. So what happens? The obvious? No!

Cash drops Del Rosario really early with a huge right hand and he's all over Shane for much of the fight, dropping all sorts of shots on his dome and trying his best to keep Del Rosario on his back. Cash looks well on his way to winning, but he gets very sloppy on offense, and Del Rosario shows us why he's well regarded: He starts going for rubber guard, and as Cash slows, he catches the unknown pseudoprospect with a glitzy record in a omaplata and sweeps him, soon after forcing a tap out due to the shoulder lock. Impressive to see him come back from adversity, though I think you'll see future capable fighters rush him. (2)

5) BILLY EVANGELISTA vs. JORGE GURGEL: Gurgel has now officially entered journeyman status, while Evangelista is still a prospect with room to grow.

Round 1 is terrible. Zero action with Evangelista landing some low kicks once a minute or so and taking down Gurgel with 6 seconds remaining. Second is slightly better; Gurgel is coming forward now with his wild shots (as he has since the knee injury against Imanari), but is taken down by Evangelista with a sweep. Evangelista does an adequate amount of battering for my taste on top, but the ref disagrees and stands them. Gurgel clips him with a high kick with half a minute remaining and goes for a guillotine. Still gave it to Evangelista.

Final round; Early on its a standup fight. Gurgel just can't shoot and hasn't been able to for years, but his standup isn't getting better and eating right hands forces him to actually try to get down Evangelista. He proves successful in tripping him, though little comes of it. Evangelista is cut by a kick during the exchanges late in the round and takes down Gurgel himself. Its a easy unanimous decision for Evangelista in my eyes, and he continues to progress in the sport. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Cash/Del Rosario

KO OF THE NIGHT: None, perhaps Cole Escovedo's on the dark portion?

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Cash/Del Rosario

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Fights that went to decision were terrible. Fights that didn't were too short to really be "good", even if there was back and forth and "action".

D&R Rating: 30% (6/20)

STRIKEFORCE: ONE NIGHT TOURNEY 11/16/07 (updated!)

This is a new version of an old review, thanks to 5 new fights falling into my lap that comprised the entire "dark" card. There's a little separation line between new and old stuff. One thing I did do? Change the ratings a little. Buentello/Overeem is now stunningly important and the tattoo artist guy isn't.

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Joe Riggs was supposed to fight in the tourney, but backed out due to some sort of family tragedy, I believe, bringing Sean Salmon from being an alternate to being in the event itself. Poor, poor, Sean Salmon. The tournament fights are 10 minute bouts of two 5 minute rounds.

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DARK MATCHES (reviewed 12/09):

1) DENNIS HALLMAN vs. JEREMIAH METCALF: Metcalf is a solid and loved journeyman. Hallman is a even more solid and more beloved journeyman.

Metcalf throws a superman punch and ends up getting in a guillotine attempt that goes down to the mat. Hallman sweeps him as Metcalf tries to stand and get away by grabbing the heel, they trade standing, Hallman ends up on his back, scissors a leg, and rolls Metcalf into a heel hook. Wow! So much fun. (2)

2) CHRIS DRUMM vs. EVAN ESGUERRA: This is at 145 and I have no idea who they are. 3x3 for rounds.

Its a back and forth grappling battle that ends, unfortunately, with Drumm getting hit in the back of the head and refusing to continue, thus winning a DQ. He has never fought since. (0)

3) ALEX CRISPIM vs. CLINT CORONEL: Coronel gave a good account of himself in a previous fight. Crispim isn't anything special.

Slow fight initally that never really speeds up and seems to show off Coronel's sparring partner mentality. Crispim is able to take him down with prolongued clinches, and Coronel is gassed out in the third as a result. Crispim wins and goes on to lose to John Gunderson. (0)

4) ANTHONY FIGUEROA vs. PETE SABALA: Figueroa I just watched on the Playboy Mansion show.

Exciting fight with Figueroa landing huge blows to Sabala, Sabala looking finished, but then randomly coming back, getting Figueroa down (huge slam in round 2), and so on in repetition. One of the best surprises in forever. I had it in favor of Figueroa and he got the split decision. Highly recommended. (1)

5) ERIC LAWSON vs. JOSH NEAL: Lawson still has a SF contract!

Lawson gets trapped in a triangle attempt very early in the round and ends up surviving it the entire 3 minutes. Neal probably could have forced a tap by transitioning to an armbar, but got greedy. Second round? Lawson drops Neal with a right hand right at the bell, takes his back and wins by rear naked choke. Wow. Really fun stuff too. (1)

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1) SEAN SALMON vs. JORGE SANTIAGO: This entire event was like the "Jorge Santiago Emerges From Obscurity Show." Salmon had been famous for getting leveled by a Rashad Evans high kick. He does not fare much better here, as I'm sure you know.

Not a whole lot to discuss that's not been brought up before everywhere else. Salmon and Santiago sorta throw strikes at long range and Santiago throws a flying knee. Sometime soon after, Salmon is in seizures and urinating himself. (3)

2) FALANIKO VITALE vs. TREVOR PRANGLEY: There was once a time in recent history where Niko still mattered. He has a win over Yushin Okami, even. But when Robbie Lawler obliterated him on the first Icon Sports card back in 2005, his run as a top middleweight ended. It was the first of three consecutive stoppage losses and began a run of 4 losses in 5 fights. Prangley was in a totally different situation, however. Prangley left the UFC after a losses to Chael Sonnen (deserved) and Jeremy Horn (not deserved), and ended up getting his checks written by Bodog. Fighting chiefly for them, Prangley beat a bunch of very solid fighters like Yuki Kondo, Kyacey Uscola, and Andrei Semenov to get him a spot in this tournament as the favorite.

One of the strangest fights you'll ever see for a variety of reasons. The bout itself was exceedingly close, with Vitale doing a good job landing right hands when there was some distance, but Prangley really doing a solid job in the clinch. There was even crisp body punching in what was an almost all standup affair. Midway through round 2, Prangley accidentally poked Vitale in the eye, causing a scratched cornea. The fight went to the judges, and they ruled it a majority draw, forcing ref Marcus Rosales to pick the winner. I felt Prangley was winning overall, and with Vitale unable to continue to the next round, Prangley was given the nod in the fight. (3)

3) LUKE STEWART vs. BRYSON KAMAKA: Kamaka is a Hawaiian Tomato Can. Stewart is another fighter that Strikeforce is being very careful with so as to build up a fanbase regionally for him.

Knee to head from thai clinch, fight over in less than a minute. Stewart is going from that to Riggs. (0)

4) ANTHONY RUIZ vs. BOBBY SOUTHWORTH: Non-title bullshit as Southworth is a champion of some sort for them. I remember Southworth being IFC champ and having fought in PRIDE and thinking, "wow this guy should totally win TUF" and boy that did not happen. I think he's in his late 30s now too.

The first round plays out as Southworth attempts for takedowns and ground control and Ruiz beats him up standing. Ruiz is hardly any sort of world beater, nor does he look the role, but Southworth looks uncoordinated and flat here. He falls down throwing a kick, for instance. Still, Southworth does enough on my card by pushing around Ruiz and holding top control against a guy with no bottom game to win the first round.

Second round is very short. In the standup, Ruiz starts landing shots and Southworth's face is apparently made of tissue paper. He cuts over and under both eyes and is flailing from being hurt. Ruiz takes him down, but the referee prompts a time out to check the cuts. The doctor thinks they are way too bad and Ruiz wins. (1)

5) LEMONT DAVIS vs. BRIAN SCHWARTZ: This is set for three three minute rounds. Schwartz is a popular local kickboxer making his debut.

Nothing about this fight excites or really interests. Schwartz has a history in TKD and likes sidekicks, which in MMA can get you taken down if they don't land. And that's what happens. His sprawl is mediocre at best and Davis, while clearly not any sort of high end fighter or legendary kickboxer, is able to match a lot of what Schwartz does on his feet and mixes in actual ground technique as well. Davis wins a 29-28 decision and most of the fight is booed. (0)

6) ALISTAR OVEREEM vs. PAUL BUENTELLO: I have been very hard on Buentello over the years, and its deserved. The one UFC I've gone to he fought in the main event of and lasted a whopping 15 seconds. He's never show that he's any better than being KOTC Heavyweight champion, which is a title I hope he was handed again. Overeem looks so huge here. I have no idea how he made 205 in PRIDE but he may actually be the naturally bigger man of the two, given how much of Buentello's weight is straight flab.

A beatdown of epic proportions. Buentello's best moment is towards the end of the first when he escapes a cool guillotine attempt with a nice little spin out. Otherwise he is utterly controlled and beaten on like he's a heavyweight punching bag. Overeem sinks a knee about a foot into his sternum and Buentello falls down and taps out in the second round. Overeem was always the best free agent on the market as far as heavyweights go since PRIDE went under, but this put the wax stamp on that. (4)

7) TOURNAMENT FINAL - TREVOR PRANGLEY vs. JORGE SANTIAGO: Prangley comes into the fight a little beat up for that fight with Vitale. Santiago is fresh as a daisy.

Prangley moves slow in the ring, just like a guy who fought two hard rounds would. Santiago pounds him with low kicks and right hands. You gotta set up shots, and Prangley wasn't able to tell where the next punch was gonna come from, leaving his arms out to defend neither. Santiago took full advantage of it and launched a flying knee that landed in Prangley's chest. He just crumbled. Santiago wins and you have to wonder why the UFC isn't interested in a guy knocking people out with flying knees and shit. He's a hell of a lot better a fighter than he was when he fought Belcher or Leben. (3)

8) CUNG LE vs. SAM MORGAN: Sammy Morgan's career highlight reel is like, him getting fucked up.

Ho hum, Cung Le squash match. Le throws a lot of stuff that lands clean and doesn't hurt much, making him like a really flashy version of Guy Mezger and has some cool takedowns and takedown defense. Morgan gets KOed by a body kick and lots of people waive the free Vietnamese flags they were given at the door. I guess I'll give it a (2), since I have no idea what to consider Cung Le internationally at 185.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT(S): Overeem/Buentello. Glorious.

KO OF THE NIGHT(S): Santiago/Salmon. Your average card doesn't have this many impressive KOs by knee, but Santiago/Salmon was a KO of the year contender.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT(S): Hallman/Metcalf

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7.5 out of 10. With the added bouts, there's a new depth to this show. Fun fights amongst the nobodies and monster KOs. This would be a card of the year contender if it was a UFN. Interesting note: The D&R rating went down appreciably with the change in number of fights. Oh well. Another thing I need to work out.

D&R RATING: 30% (20/65)

ShoMMA/Strikeforce Challengers 1 (5/15/2009)

Okay, another review. I've got a lot of these I'm sitting on. This is for the inaugural ShoMMA card, or the rough equivalent of the Shobox series for MMA. Headlining this event in Fresno, CA is Mike Aina/Billy Evangelista. Announcing: Moron Ranallo, Stephen Quadros, and Pat Miletich.

1) BAO QUACH vs. TITO JONES: Jones apparently was trained originally by Roy Jones Sr., and Quach is a longtime gatekeeper in MMA. This is at 145. That's in contrast to Quach's 140lb fights for EliteXC.

Slow, slow fight. In fact, no need to review all 3 rounds. Jones absorbs leg kicks and Quach throws them occasionally. In the third round, Jones shows some gumption and drops him with a right hand twice, and also hurts him with a body shot, but is apparently a terrible finisher. The result? Quach wins a decision. I had this a draw with a 10-8 3rd but can't complain much. Well, apart from 2/3s of the fight (1)

2) AARON ROSA vs. ANTHONY RUIZ: Ruiz I hate watching. Rosa was a prospect who hit hard times.

Wild swinging from both to start, a clinch, and Rosa tries to push off and punch. Ruiz, being a horrible fighter to watch, keeps up the pushing to the cage. Rosa is more exciting and willing to at least risk something to win; He tries to hiptoss Ruiz, and while it doesn't work, he gets him out of position long enough to go for the double and put Ruiz on his back. When there, he easily moves to mount, Ruiz gives his back, and gets choked totally out. (1)

3) LAVAR JOHNSON vs. CARL SEUMANUTAFA: Carl's job is to prove that Samoans can have glass jaws too.

Seumanutafa shoots and gets caught with a uppercut, deading him instantly. Amazing. (1) Johnson is subsequently shot in the stomach during a family reunion and his career could be over.

4) MEISHA TATE vs. SARAH KAUFMAN: I hate writing about women's MMA because I plainly do not care about it. Fabricio Camoes was on the undercard and I missed him to see this.

Both girls swing for the fences without putting their hips into it standing, but Kaufman gets her shots there first. Tate likes takedowns, and is successful in getting one in the second round, which makes the fight close for the third. Both are pretty beat up, but Kaufman perseveres and smashes Tate repeatedly with punches throughout the round, shrugging off takedown attempts, and pulling off the win. I don't rank these.

5) MIKE AINA vs. BILLY EVANGELISTA: Evangelista I've seen before, and he's a decent wrestler/kickboxer hybrid sort. Aina I've seen many more times: He's a tough guy who doesn't do anything necessarily super well, but is competent in many fields at the same time.

Round 1 is a standup fight with both showing lots of respect early on, but Evangelista catching onto being more successful in the clinch than Aina (who is really only landing low kicks on occasion). As a result, he takes the first round. Second is more of the same, but Evangelista scores a takedown, changing the nature of the fight. He lands a lot of ground and pound, and as Aina tries to get up, a knee is thrown. Replay seems to indicate it landed squarely on the shoulder, but Herb Dean thinks it hit the head. Aina claims his jaw hurts, and the fight is ruled a DQ win for Aina. Crowd; Not happy. The commission changed this to a NC. Again, NC = (0).

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Tate/Kaufman

KO OF THE NIGHT: Seumanutafa/Johnson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Ruiz/Rosa

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10: Uneventful given the top two bouts status, Johnson argurably being not very special (and then, unfortunately, nearly being killed), Rosa being previously exposed, and Quach not being an elite fighter. Plus, the fights weren't very good except the women's bout. Nothing to go crazy about.

D&R Rating: 25% (3/12)

STRIKEFORCE: PLAYBOY MANSION (9/29/07)

It seems like only yesterday that Strikeforce was a regional show putting on crappy fights. Today, they are a much bigger national promotion putting on fights that aren't so bad but aren't so great either. Thanks to their new association with the folks at Showtime, old Strikeforce events have seen the light of day for HDTV broadcast. Two in particular were shown in the leadup to their last official event of 2009: This event from September of 2007, and the 11/16/07 show that was headlined by Cung Le and the first ever one night tournament in US major commission history. That event I've reviewed already, but the airing on Showtime featured a bevy of new fights previously unaired. As a result, its going to get bumped up as soon as I'm done writing the review. Lots of that, matter of fact. Just wait till you see the review I've got of M-1's 2009 season.

This event was the first held at the Playboy Mansion. Interesting note: the now even more famous Kendra was interviewed by the announce crew for this and mentioned that Hugh only did the event because it was a "hot new thing", not because he liked the sport. He and Kendra both preferred boxing. Announcing the show is Brian Webber and Frank Shamrock.

1) MIGUEL LINHARES vs. ANTHONY FIGUEROA: 3x3 minute rounds for this bantamweight contest between non-names.

Linhares is measured and not overly excited, but robotic with his strikes, throwing good low kicks and pushing punches. Figueroa clinches midway through the round, starts landing some dirty boxing, and down goes Linhares. Fight over. (0)

2) LUKE STEWART vs. SAM LIERA: Stewart was a SF favorite for awhile, being a BJJ artist who like to do tattoos. Liera is a dude who, I think, trained with the Shark Tank.

Stewart throws a high kick and falls down, with Liera following with a right hand. They clinch, Stewart gets a takedown and is quickly passing to side control. Liera proves decent though; he sweeps, is on top in half guard, but himself loses the position and ends up in half guard and later mounted. Stewart postures up and then lands a solid 2 minutes or so of punches to the head before Cecil Peoples thinks that Liera may have had enough. Seriously, these were not defended, and the announcers were aghast. (0)

3) EDDIE MILLIS vs. DANIEL MCWILLIAMS: More 3x3 minute rounds. Didn't bother to see what weight it was.

McWilliams throws terrible punches. Just awful. There's a clinch (shock), McWilliams goes for a guillotine, and Millis pops out and goes for a takedown as McWilliams tries to get away. McWilliams defends, scrambles up and Millis tries to scissor a leg. McWilliams defends it by stacking up, mounts, takes Millis' back, acquires a tap, and the win. Sloppy, awful stuff. (0)

4) ADAM SMITH vs. DEWEY COOPER: Oh, MMA novelty. Cooper is a longtime boxer and kickboxer. For a number of years he called out boxers on various forums as well as a number of top name kickboxers. He never got his money fight; In 2008 he was defeated by an ancient Arthur Williams in a boxing match at the Tachi Palace. He lost the rematch at the same location one year later. Here he is in his short lived MMA career. Smith is a Canadian of no particular note.

Cooper throws low kicks in round one and Smith doesn't know how to check them. That is the story of round 1. The second is more exciting; Smith shoots immediately and eats a right hand. Again he shoots after stumbling back up, and drags down Cooper in a horrid guillotine. Cooper pops out and stands. Smith, after a bad first, is all about trying to close distance; he clinches, drops for a double, and ends up in full mount. Cooper holds on, but nowhere near well enough to justify the standup Smith is forced to do. Close round.

Third and final round: Cooper throws kicks, and Smith wants the clinch. Who knew? Cooper is thrown down, rolls out, and lands a hard right that staggers Smith. Smith still pursues the takedown and again is successful, landing in half guard. The success is shortlived; Very soon after, there's a standup, and Smith is forced to start from scratch. He eats some knees before the takedown, which happens with not enough time left to salvage the round. Cooper wins a unanimous decision. (1)

5) RICHARD DALTON vs. DANIEL PUDER: In what seems like an eternity ago, Kurt Angle was released from his services as a wrestler for the WWE. At that point, he was offered a major money deal with the UFC to participate in a program with Daniel Puder, an MMA fighter turned pro wrestler turned MMA fighter who had nearly torn off one of his limbs in a shocking turn of events of "wrasslin turned real". Angle took a deal to continue wrestling and Puder has since become totally irrelevant, just as Angle is. For the D-Leagues he now inhabits as an undefeated fighter, Puder is not even a marquee attraction. Reality bites, or so I'm told.

Dalton rushes forward for the clinch, and Puder pulls a guillotine attempt. He holds it forever and a day, Dalton never submits, pulls out, and they clinch more. Dalton does get a double at the end, and Puder goes for a straight armbar from the bottom. In the second, Dalton again shoots immediately, ending up inside Puder's half guard. I thought Puder was an amateur wrestler? Oh well. There's no action, the ref stands it up, and Dalton shoots again. After a couple failed attempts to do something with a body lock, he drops for a leg and Puder defends, forcing Dalton to his back, getting the back. He throws a ton of hammerfists to Dalton, setting up his hooks. Dalton scoots out the back, gets up, and we're back to a clinch position. Puder tries another guillotine, Dalton successfully defends it, but another attempt to drop for a single/double ends with more shots to the body. Right now, its 2-0 Puder.

Dalton clinches in the third, Puder goes for a guillotine...wait, isn't this a pattern? Puder throws foot stomps and knees to the leg and head. Puder release, tries to get some separation, and Dalton actually lands a right hand. Uhh, why now? Puder is more or less really tired and not so much hurt, and after a brief stumble around Dalton clinches with him and throws away his shot at winning. The rest of the fight is more clinching with Dalton and Puder trading soft shots that have no chance of ending this fight. Puder wins a unanimous decision. (1)

6) FALANIKO VITALE vs. RON FIELDS: To what length can you talk about MMA in this decade without somehow bringing in Vitale? It seems impossible to me. They fought in Superbrawl before and Vitale easily won. Fields, a longtime journeyman, is unlikely to have a different result here.

Clinch early, Niko takes down Fields, eventually works his way to crucifix and pounds on Fields for about 1:30. Really bad stoppages here tonight. (2)

7) BILL MAHOOD vs. BOBBY SOUTHWORTH: Mahood had a cup of coffee in the UFC and in Bodog. Southworth was a villian on TUF 1 and has stunk up Strikeforce for eternities. Supposedly, he might be on the next TUF. How sad.

Clinch, Mahood drops for the guillotine, Southworth is in half guard, throws some shots, Mahood breaks a rib, cries some, fight is over, Southworth is nonplussed, the fans think it sucks. (2)

8) MATT LEE vs. JORGE MASVIDAL: Poor Lee: Has no idea what is to happen here.

Masvidal doesn't totally outclass Lee standing: That I am shocked about. He takes down Lee, but Lee's back up quickly. Wow! Oh, but Lee eats some elbows and punches in the clinch, and goes down in a heap. Oh well. (2)

9) CLINT CORONEL vs. BILLY EVANGELISTA: Evangelista is a guy Strikeforce loves. Clint Coronel is a dude who trains with Frank Shamrock and should be at 135/145.

Evangelista stalks Coronel around in the first. He doesn't know how to cut off the cage at all, and gets cut on his eye by a shot. No really solid exchanges. Second round is more active with Evangelista looking more wild with his attacks and Coronel countering. Evangelista controls the pace with his low kicks, which are almost never checked. A close round I gave to Evangelista. Final round starts close, but Coronel begins to let the leg kicks slow him. When Billy Evangelista finally shoots, Coronel is totally unprepared. He does scramble up in the final 30 seconds but in his attempt to gain victory is tagged with stronger shots by Evangelista. Its a split decision that Evangelista is given. Mixed reaction from the crowd to the news of the winner. (1)

10) ADAM LYNN vs. JOSH THOMSON: Thomson just fought Gilbert Melendez in a great rematch, and this for him was a tuneup against a nobody.

Lynn shoots and Thomson defends. Okay, look, let's make this brief. Lynn is a game guy but wants none of Thomson standing at distance and in close, he's not effective either. He can't get down Thomson and ends up getting his clock cleaned with a right hand while clinching that drops and essentially finishes him. Nothing to get excited about. (2)

11) JOE RIGGS vs. EUGENE JACKSON: Jackson was a guy I thought was a gold medal wrestler. That guy I confused him with? Appeared on my TV coaching Iowa State's wrestling team. Thank you to Cory and Chris Henderson for setting me straight. This Jackson fought under Militech's tutelage when that meant something. Riggs is famous as a fat man who lost tons of weight and has his nickname tattooed on his torso.

Riggs lands a left hand that hurts Jackson, goes for a rear naked choke and transitions to an armbar, Jackson defends, but ends up on his back again. Riggs rides his back, Jackson turns over into mount, and is bashed out. Ugly fight. (2)

12) GILBERT MELENDEZ vs. TETSUJI KATO: Kato was a fighter from Shooto with a 19-7 record coming in. Melendez was an undefeated phenom of sorts with wins in PRIDE against big, big names. On New Years Eve, he'd lose to Ishida, the first of two major defeats in a 6 month span.

Melendez goes for the takedown immediately, but Kato defends it well. Melendez is getting real low when he looks to strike and shoot, and throws some solid right hands, even if its more athleticism than technique. One of the blows drops Kato, and while he climbs the cage and gets up again, Melendez controls the standup for the remainder of the round, plus has points built from a ground and pound assault. 10-9 Melendez.

Melendez is still outboxing Kato and looks to get him down to the mat to further dominate. Kato is a decent grappler, though, and shrugs off some of the shots. Melendez is very obviously setting up nothing but 1-2 combinations, and they trade briefly, only for Kato to break off the exchanges and shake his right hand. Yikes. Kato has suffered a ton of cuts in the last round or so, having broken his nose and suffering lacerations over both eyes. He recieves some attention from the doc in this round, further importing Melendez's domination to the judges.

Kato has made it to the final round, much to my surprise. He is taken down to half guard briefly, but is able to climb the cage and separate. Melendez overcommits to a strike and Kato briefly secures some control of the back from a standing position, but is unable to drag down Melendez. Melendez does get tagged with some left hooks by Kato late in the round, seemingly showing a weakness later exposed fully by Thomson in their first fight. Melendez wins all three rounds and retains his then perfect record. (4)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Coronel/Evangelista

KO OF THE NIGHT: Masvidal/Lee

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Millis/McWilliams

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Kato was game and so was Coronel, and they brought out some bright spots against then undefeated fighters in an otherwise terrible card on paper. Some interesting stars and notables taking part in fights here. I must admit: I tried watching the webcast live some 3 years ago and fell asleep.

D&R Rating: 28% (17/60)